The unique metal co-headlining tour featuring Lamb of God and Mastodon brought the heat to close out the weekend in Richmond, VA.
Like the majority of this summer, it was a brutally hot day in Richmond, VA, when The Ashes of Leviathan Tour rolled through. Sundays are usually the day of the week when most people are contemplating heading back to work the following day, trying to push away the dread of the week ahead. But on Sunday, July 28, metalheads came out in droves for what would be one of the heaviest nights in the city.
This tour is incredibly unique in that it celebrates the 20th anniversaries of both Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake and Mastodon‘s Leviathan albums. Both albums were released on August 31, 2004, so to have both bands be together to celebrate on the road with this spectacle of a tour was a wild moment for metalheads.
First up for the evening was metalcore band Malevolence, hailing from the UK. Even though their set started a few minutes ahead of schedule and was the first act of the evening, the crowd was already filling in and ready to spend the hot summer night with everyone on this tour. Malevolence was a fantastic opener for what would turn out to be one wild night of headbanging, mosh pits, and circle pits.
Next up was Kerry King. After Slayer retired, King decided to pursue a solo career. King’s solo debut album, From Hell I Rise, was released on May 17, 2024, so concert-goers were treated to several songs from that album, as well as a handful of Slayer tunes, like “Raining Blood” and “Black Magic.” King was the best hard-hitting band to include on this tour and concert-goers made sure that was apparent. From the second King stepped out on stage, the crowd went absolutely wild and never let up the entire set. It was finally time for Mastodon to take the stage. As mentioned, Mastodon is about to celebrate their 20th anniversary for the album Leviathan. Playing the album in its entirety, plus a few extra songs from other albums as an encore, Mastodon wasted no time making sure the crowd was up and moving. Their stage setup was intriguing, as their video boards depicted different imagery for every song, each one becoming more trippy than the last. At one point, a large, sea creature-like mascot appeared on stage and made its trek from one side to the other. Despite the fact that there were signs around the venue reminding concert-goers to not crowd surf, it was at this point in the evening that metalheads no longer cared and wanted to celebrate the heavy-hitting music in any way they could. There was even a heartfelt moment when the band talked about how 20 years ago they saw their album Leviathan on display at a Best Buy right next to Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake album, to which they then called up Randy Blythe to tell him. The friendship between the bands was incredibly moving to hear about, making this tour that much more impactful. Closing out the evening was Lamb of God. As this was a hometown show for them, the venue was practically all the way packed by the time they were on the stage. The band had many friends and family in attendance as well. It is apparent just how much the city of Richmond means to the band, and they wanted to go all out for the city they call home. Everyone was on their feet during Lamb of God’s set, there was no way anyone could remain seated. Like Mastodon, Lamb of God played their Ashes of the Wake album in its entirety to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Blythe mentioned how they had not played in Richmond since GWARBBQ in 2016 and how proud and excited they were to be back in their hometown. The crowd was equally excited to have them back. Blythe talked a bit about the album, including how he recorded the vocal tracks right there in Richmond. Again, the rules of no crowd surfing were long since forgotten, there was no stopping the wild RVA metalheads. The Ashes of Leviathan Tour has plenty of dates left, with a final show on August 31 in Omaha, NE. If you have not made it to this tour yet, be sure to check it out!LAMB OF GOD
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